R Kelly will face his sentencing later in June 2022 and according to US federal prosecutors, anything less than a 25-year imprisonment would be an injustice to his victims.
R Kelly sentencing: How many years will he get?
As reported by the New York Post, the I Believe I Can Fly sex deviant was found guilty on nine counts of sexual abuse and grooming underage girls and boys for the entirety of his music career.
In the build-up to his sentencing, which is scheduled for Wednesday 29 June 2022, federal prosecutors submitted motivations for their recommendation of a prison term that exceeds 25 years.
“In light of the seriousness of the offenses, the need for specific deterrence and the need to protect the public from further crimes of the defendant … the government respectfully submits that a sentence in excess of 25 years is warranted,” prosecutors wrote in a legal filing made on Thursday.
The feds reminded the judge about Kelly’s manipulation in using “his fame, money and popularity… to both carry and conceal his crimes.”
“He continued his crimes and avoided punishment for them for almost 30 years and must now be held to account,:” the US Attorney’s office added.
If federal prosecutors get it their way, Kelly will be in his 70s by the time he completes his prison term, albeit, he still has pending child sex abuse cases in Minnesota and Illinois.
Kelly’s lawyers, however, are ready to submit a plea for a lesser sentence. One of the R&B singer’s attorneys, Jennifer Bonjean, noted her intention to get the judge to limit R Kelly’s sentence to 14 years, citing reasons linked to the singer’s “history and characteristics.”
The unravelling of the R&B legend’s life came back in 2019 following the release of Surviving R Kelly, a documentary that detailed the sordid sex crimes he committed against vulnerable women and children.